Walking By Faith Part 3 "fear, Faith And Rest" Series

Fear, Faith & Rest

The title of my sermon this morning is Fear, Faith and Rest. It’s the last message in our series of sermons dealing with the all—important topic of faith. In our first sermon, “Walking by Faith, I dealt with what I believe are the 5 primary reasons we should strive to nurture, grow and guard our faith. 1. By faith we access the saving grace of God.(Ephesians 2:8,9) 2. Faith is our shield (Eph 6) 3. Faith gives us the ability to “see” beyond our physical, temporal dimension into the eternal, Spiritual realm. 4. Faith is the key that unlocks the unlimited power of God through prayer. 5. Faith can afford us heavenly peace that far exceeds human understanding, even in the midst of the most violent storm.

In our second sermon, Faith the Overcomes, we talked about how it is by faith that we overcome the world—meaning that, in Christ we can overcome anything the world can throw at us. We also talked about how we should examine ourselves regularly to see whether or not we are actually “in the faith” and we looked at biblical ways we can strengthen and consistently grow our faith.

And finally, today I want to conclude this series by taking a look at an interesting New Testament passage that points back to a well-known Old Testament event that actually sheds light on the critical nature of faith that in the lives of we Christians who are living in these very turbulent last days.

Turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter three.

The letter was originally written to Jewish believers. But it is certainly also written for our encouragement and admonition—in fact, the message contained here is extremely important for the time in which we live.

Warning Against Unbelief

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice ,8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me, and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Recount some of the miraculous signs they witnessed firsthand: plagues on Egyptians, the Presence of God in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, parting of the Red Sea, daily manna from heaven, water from a rock, the Sinai experience… After nearly two years of God performing miracle after miracle; revealing His presence and power to these people, He finally brought them to Kadesh Barnea—the very edge of the Promised Land, where they should have been poised, eager to seize their inheritance and enter into that blessed rest God had promised them.. But then they insisted on sending in some spies—instead of trusting and obeying God, they decided to do a “feasibility study”! (Deuteronomy 1)…......... Most of the spies said, “ the land devours those who live in it; walls up to the sky; giants live there, we seemed like grasshoppers compared to them.....let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

Why didn’t they go in? Why didn’t they enter that rest?: (vs 19) Because of their “unbelief” or lack of FAITH…

Can you see the painfully clear parallel between our own spiritual journeys today and that of ancient Israel’s journey through the wilderness?? He delivered them from bondage to Pharaoh and led them on a journey through the wilderness in order to find rest in the Promised Land... So, He has delivered us from our bondage to sin, and is leading us through the wilderness of this sinful world; and we too have a destination in mind....